Hoo-boy, Columbus!

Oddly, we’ve only played three shows on this date over the years, and even one of those nearly didn’t happen. A few underperforming concerts cut drastically into the endowment at Stache’s in Columbus in 1988. Accurately predicting that the paying audience for the Half Japanese/Yo La Tengo bill would not cover our guarantees, the promoter tried to cancel at the last minute, only to find that we’re not that easily gotten rid of. Both bands agreed to play for the door, split 60/40 for Half Japanese, which in our case totaled $24. Handed a twenty and a five, we were asked if we could make change. Demonstrating the hardball tactics without which we could have never survived this cutthroat business, we said no. In 2006, we play with Minotaur Shock in Cambridge, England–even looking at the setlist, all I can really remember about this day is a pre-soundcheck band outing to go see Borat.